Bring on the clowns! Heheh, Kylie, there is an 03 Catylist 112 wakeskate for sale in clasified boards section, that would be a good starter, I have heard the cattalyst is a lot less squirrely than the Byerly. Check it out, and I'm glad you had fun, go get em girl!

What I'm really trying to find out before I buy is like pros and cons of wood v. composite, shorter v. longer length, etc. If someone could give me input so I can make a more informed decision, that would be great!!

wood has more of a skateboard feel, while composite will be like riding a wakeboard. I think most wood boards have more pop but there are also some composite boards with good pop to like the integrity (www.integrity-wake.com) the omen (www.omenskates.com).....if you are looking at composite i would recommend one of those over any other board, but if you are looking for wood look at the gators, oak, LF Impulse, or cassette.

Here’s what I’ve learned from my experiences with wakeskating this year. Keep in mind, I just started wakeskating this year but I haven’t set foot on my wakeboard since I started. Given the choice between the two, the wakeskate keeps winning (I’m not anti-wakeboarding…I just seem to be better at wakeskating for some odd reason and to me it’s a lot more fun).

Okay, so my first board was the 2005 LF Melissa 41 (it was on sale and the 1st board I rode was this year at the Hauser Lake Maven session on this year’s LF Melissa 41). I had a blast on that board but it started falling apart after the first time out. The board cracked down the center and water started seeping in. Knowing I wanted to be able to keep progressing on the same board without replacing it early on, I bought this year’s Integrity NT 39.75. I love this board! For someone like me who runs into stuff on the water every now and then, the composite board is a great fit. Also, I want to learn to do rails, etc. in the future so that will pay off too. The edges on the NT were a lot sharper than the Melissa and that took some getting used to. Didn’t take more than a few pulls to fall in love with the board. The Melissa is a fun board…don’t get me wrong. I like the rounder rails which are more forgiving than the stock ones that came with the NT. Which brings me to another reason I sought out the NT…you can reshape the rails and they have info on their website as to how you can do that. I’m wanting to round mine a bit but I think I’ll wait off for now and give the stock shape some more time.

Random thought: I prefer griptape over foam. Better feel to the board and no squeaky squeaky noise. Also, it feels more like my skateboard (well duh…making fun of myself…) and in turn makes me feel more comfortable. Now, with the griptape comes a cost…you should see my left ankle (I ride regular) and my right elbow. Talk about nasty griptape burns but for some reason, I like them…they make me smile knowing I was having fun when I got them.

The sharper edged boards (such as my stock NT) have quick response and are faster with lower drag, have solid edging and cleaner pop, and they produce a finer spray and quicker initiation for tricks. Integrity says that the deck will stay closer to your feet when doing ollies since it isn’t tracking through the water and it is riding higher up on top of it, so, it won't be sucked down by having a deeper divot which surrounds the rail and holds it down. The con’s to this shaper are that lip tricks are definitely easier to hang up on. I’m living proof there. It also has a looser feel, which Integrity says might cause problems for a less experienced rider. I haven’t found it to be a bad loose feel at all but everyone’s different. I ride the stock NT with fins (1” fiberglass RFC’s) and am considering purchasing lower profile fins so it will release better. The NT 39.75 in stock form tracks and rides great.

A softer rail (such as the LF Melissa 41) doesn’t hang up as much on lip tricks, it still tracks well, and I can ride this shape finless with no problems (whereas I’m a complete spaz on the Integrity without fins…I’m also a beginner though so remember that when reading this). The deck sits lower in the water and edges softer. It feels a lot slower than my NT. It’s good for all around riding according to most manufacturers. It’s a great shape to start out on but since you’ve been wakeboarding for a while, I almost think you’d be just fine with the sharper rails. Who knows though…personal preference. It does appear to have more drag and less pop (I’m still working on my ollies so I had to ask other people that question for you). I know you’re a w2w kinda’ gal so you’d have to edge a lot harder on this shape than the sharper shape.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions. If you’re ever in Eastern, WA/Northern, ID, you are welcome to ride both of my decks and see which one you like better. It’s most likely wetsuit weather this weekend but I’m still up for riding (wearing boardshorts over the wetsuit to save the neoprene from the griptape though).

Marjee - thanks so much for the info! Everyone on here definitely knows a lot more about wakeskating than I do. All I know so far is that falling off sure hurt a lot less than slamming my face into the water off my wakeboard! What about speed? I've heard that you get pulled slower on a wakeskate than a wakeboard - true? If so, what's the reasoning for that?

I've also noticed that falling while wakeskating hurts a lot less than falling while wakeboarding...as long as you don't get hit in the head with your deck.

As for speed, I ride different speeds depending on what I'm trying to do. You get more pop from faster speeds because it creates a harder water surface. Surface tricks are easier to learn at slower speeds (15 or so) and getting comfortable with riding positions is often easier at lower speeds. By the way, you probably know this already but in case you don't, be sure to ollie with just your lead hand on the handle - much more stable. Also, ollies outside the wake are proving to be easier for me to learn than inside the turbulent wake where the water gets chopped up. Surface tricks are great inside the wake...ollies...not so good. Also with ollies, if you are going too slowly, the water absorbs your energy when you try to ollie and this will result in no pop. Also, if you are going too fast, you might not be able to pop at all.

Speed is also relevant to what is pulling you - boat, PWC, winch and what length of rope you’re using. As always, whatever's more comfortable to you. If you're having trouble with pop...kick it up a notch. If you're having trouble with surface spins slipping out too fast, back it off a bit.

If you need to know what speed your winch is pulling you at, check out this helpful link:

As for the reasoning, I almost failed Physics so I’m the worst person to ask that question. I just know that wakeskating feels a lot faster than wakeboarding does. I ride in the low to mid 20’s on my wakeboard and between 17-19 on my wakeskate, unless I’m working on surface and liptricks…then it’s as slow as 15. Just an estimate based on the boats I ride behind. I’ll have to use my GPS to know for sure. Keep forgetting to bring it along.

I have the 2005 Integrity team deck and the first season I rode with fins and did not sand the rails. This season I got really used to the board and decided the fins were getting in the way, and I sanded the rails a bit (round in the center to a subtle squaring towards the tails) so I took them off....no fins ever again, on any board for me. It really held up my progression, no fins forces you to learn how to edge properly, and the molded fins are sufficient. Give it a try when you get used to that NT, you may never use fins again. I am glad you are enjoying skating so much, I strapped for 4 seasons before I discovered it, and have not fruit-booted since!

I actually went and looked at some this weekend. I liked the 06 Byerly 107 (I think that's what it was). They're asking $240 but would drop it to $203 - I still think that's maybe not such a great deal since it's end of season here, so I might wait for a swap next spring. I liked that it had channels to help it track better.